SARPY COUNTY E-911 COMMUNICATIONS

Minutes of the Meeting

COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM ADVISORY BOARD

November 7, 2007

The Communications Advisory Board Committee was convened in open and public session on November 7, 2007 at 5:35 pm, the Sarpy County Board Room.  The following members or alternates were present:  Brett Schwasinger, Ed Monnier, Jeff Jones, Bob Roseland, Chris Whitted, Rolly Yost, Bob Lausten, Rod Buethe, Mark Wayne, and Steve Betts.

Buethe moved, seconded by Schwasinger to approve the minutes of the July 11, 2007 and September 5, 2007 meetings.  Motion passed unanimously.

Director’s Report:  Lavelle reported that the hiring date for the two vacant dispatcher positions has been moved back to November 26th.  One candidate has been hired and one has been given conditional offer pending the outcome of the last exams.

9-1-1 Switch upgrade funding has been approved.  The initial allocation from the Public Service Commission did not provide enough funds to cover the training and installation costs of the project.  Lavelle appeared before the PSC to request additional funding.  The order issued by the PSC on November 6th approved the additional funds.  The contract and scope of work will be finalized in the near future.  The goal is to have the installation, training, and implementation occur not later than the first quarter of 2008.

Lavelle received word today that insurance will cover the costs associated with the LaVista tower lightening strike in August.  Moving forward on the items necessary to complete the work associated with that site. 

Lavelle is still checking on funding sources for the Motorola Minitor V pagers requested by LaVista Fire Department.  The results from the testing performed by Ralston Fire proved that the pagers work well for the dual response needs of those two departments.

The RFP for the new UPS in the 911 Center is on the street.  A pre-bid meeting is scheduled for November 8, 2007 to allow vendors to ask questions and take a look at the actual site.

The remodeling of the EOC and office space for EM and Communications support is complete.  Elmer Martin and Jim Tracy did great work on accomplishing the wiring needs for telephone and data.  Our first conference call/web session was held this past week and the EOC room worked very well for that function.  The demolition of the old decontamination room next to the elevator is moving along.  Drywall, paint, and storage shelving should complete that project.  Once completed, the storage area will contain all records required by law to be locked in a secure area.

The County representatives continue to meet and discuss the 800Mhz Interlocal agreement.  There was a meeting earlier today in which both the current Interlocal agreement and current Advisory Board By-Laws were examined.  The intent is to have options available in the first quarter of 2008 to present to each city’s administration.  Expiration of current agreement is April 2009.

Subcommittee Reports:  None.

General Reports: 

John Prince and Elmer Martin absent.

Steve Betts  -  none.

Neil Johnson advised the group of current and upcoming projects:  Fire paging upgrade to simulcast from all sites.  Codespear.  Rebanding project  -  matter of reprogramming every radio on the system to different frequencies.  This project is anticipated to take all of next year.

Emergency Management:  The notification system (Codespear) funding received final approval.  John Prince was given the go ahead to order the servers.  Contact and scope of work will be finalized with AVAYA for the install, configuration, and training on the upgraded telephone system.  The notification system will be used throughout the county.  Sarpy has 500 licenses allotted for its users.  A spreadsheet is currently being revised identifying those users that will be distributed for agencies to complete.  If the total number exceeds 500, it will be possible to discuss the needs and the priority for those on the system.  Public safety has first priority.  Lisa Rink is currently attending a conference in Chicago offered by Federal Signal Corporation, the parent company of CODESPEAR.

The job descriptions for both the Emergency Program Manager and Emergency Management Specialist have been reviewed.  Minor changes will be made and approval is needed from the Personnel Department before the opening is posted.

Bob Lausten asked the group that if there are any changes or additions to emailing list please forward to Marilyn Gable.  He also requested a change in time of future meetings to 1700 hours.  Motion made by Whitted, seconded by Betts to change the meeting time to 1700.  Motion passed unanimously.